Blogging From Rural Thailand

We photographers are an odd lot. We swear that equipment is only a small part of the equation, sing the anthem of one camera and one lens to anyone that will listen, and yet we are all gear heads to some degree…

Last week I drove to Sdok Kok Thom, or Sdok Kak Thom, an 11th-century Khmer temple in Thailand, located about 34 kilometers northeast of the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet, Thailand near the Cambodian border.

Well … it’s the weekend here in rural Thailand, and that means – yes, another man is becoming a monk. The work I did the last two days, although fun, I call community service. I’m a firm believer in giving back to the community, and when we received a phone call Friday night from a mom asking that I please take photos of her son becoming a monk I said I’d be happy to.

Far away from the streets of Bangkok and what is billed as the world’s largest water fight, rural Thais celebrate a traditional Songkran, with gentle water blessings, prayers and paying respect to elders.

Almost all Buddhist men in Thailand become a monk at some point in their lives. Although there are thousands of full time Buddhist monks in Thailand, most men remain a monk for a short time. Becoming a monk is part…

Ganesha Park in Nakhon Nayok has two of the largest Ganesha statues in Thailand. The first figure shows Ganesha in a sitting position. He is holding his broken tusk in one hand. In his other hands he has a mahout’s hook, a rope noose and a rosary.

If you walk the streets of Bangkok, anytime of day or night you will find an endless supply of subjects to photograph. It is a huge city, yet has some of the friendliest people you will find anywhere. There are bars and coffee shops with open air seating everywhere, ideal for siting and people watching or shooting ….